


"Don't move"

by TetrodotoxinB



Series: Whumptober 2019 [12]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Blood, Canon-Typical Violence, Day 12, Friendly-fire accident, Injury, Prompt: "Don't move", Whumptober 2019, gunshot wound
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-12-13 15:40:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21000107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TetrodotoxinB/pseuds/TetrodotoxinB
Summary: Jack said "don't move." Mac moved.





	"Don't move"

**Author's Note:**

> Beta'd by [Secret_Library98](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Secret_Library98/pseuds/Secret_Library98).

“Mac, I’m gonna need you to be really still or get down,” Jack says over the comms.

Mac grabs a pair of wire cutters out of the pile of assorted useful items he’s made, and turns back to the junction box on the column. “Jack, I’m almost done, if you can wait about-”

“No, Mac. I cannot wait. Stop moving!” Jack orders.

If Mac weren’t so focused on the task at hand — cutting power to the electromagnet that’s keeping the control rods suspended inside the reactor — he might realize that Jack knows the gravity of the situation and has a damn good reason for asking Mac to stop working. But all Mac can think about is that if the control rods aren’t lowered soon, they’re going to have a criticality incident on their hands. 

“Jack, if I don’t finish-”

“Mac!” Jack shouts.

It takes a moment for the order to register and that’s when Mac sees the pair of armed guards running down the corridor towards him. Mac acts on instinct, diving to the side rather than ducking, and that’s when the shooting starts.

Pain flares across Mac’s side and he hits the floor hard, grasping his ribs. Mac feels the blood seeping between his fingers and scoots sideways to get behind cover. Several more shots ring out and Mac hears the sound of at least one gun clatter to the floor. When the gunfire stops, the only sounds are Mac’s labored breathing and Jack screaming into the comm.

“Mac! Mac!!!”

“I’m here, Jack,” Mac answers.

“Are you alright? Are you hit?” Jack already sounds like he’s running from the way he’s breathing hard.

“Yeah, I took a round to the left side,” Mac answers. The wound stings, but it’s still a new and somewhat confusing feeling. Carefully, Mac peels his hand off the wound and peers at the crimson stain that’s spreading across his shirt. 

Voices explode in Mac’s ear and he wriggles the comm out of his ear to avoid the cacophony of panicked questions. Carefully, he peels his shirt back and tries to wipe some of the blood away to get a closer look. It’s a deep wound, enough that it took a swath of skin from his side, but as he probes the wound — something that abruptly increases the pain enough that he nearly doubles over screaming — Mac realizes that the bullet didn’t penetrate deep enough to fully tear through his oblique muscles, meaning that his organs are likely uninjured. Relieved of his worry, though not his pain, Mac shakily presses his hand back over the injury and fumbles for the comm with bloody fingers.

Matty and Jack are both screaming for Mac and he feels guilty hearing the desperation in their voices, knowing that he put that panic there by not responding. “Sorry, sorry, my comm fell out,” Mac says loudly in an attempt to be heard over the yelling.

“Mac,” Matty demands, brooking no argument. “How bad is it? I’ve got medevac inbound but they’re fifteen minutes out.”

Mac shakes his head as Jack comes skidding to a stop in front of Mac. “Just a flesh wound. I need to finish the job, Matty. I’m fine.”

Jack doesn’t even ask, just pulls Mac’s hand out of the way and starts examining the wound. “Oh, God, Mac. God, I’m so sorry. I’m sorry. I told you not to move, and you- you-”

“Jack…” Matty growls.

“Hey, hey, Jack. What are you talking about?” Mac asks, ignoring their boss.

Tears drip off Jack’s face and he shakes his head. “When you- when you dove. I shot you. That was me. It was friendly fire, Matty.”

It hadn’t even occurred to Mac that the round came from Jack; he just thought one of the guards had gotten a lucky shot in. 

Mac puts his free hand on Jack’s shoulder and does his best to keep the pain off his face since the action pulls at his wound. “Jack, it was my fault. You told me twice to stop what I was doing and get down and I didn’t listen. It’s my fault, okay? You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Jack sniffles and shakes his head, but before he can start self-deprecating again Matty says, “Jack Dalton, I’m going to need you to have your emotions another time. Right now, if Mac’s math is accurate, which it always is, you only have another two minutes before a criticality. Get up and finish the job because if you don’t everyone in a one-mile radius will receive enough radiation exposure to cause cancer. Move!”

Mac squeezes Jack’s shoulder. “Come on, help me up. I need to cut power to those electromagnets.”

Carefully, Jack helps maneuver Mac to standing and hobble over to the junction box. It’s only the work of another few seconds before Mac hears the deep hum of all the electrical equipment in the facility powering down. 

“Matty?” Mac asks.

There’s a pause and Mac swallows, hoping that they got the control rods in place in time. 

“All readings are showing a decrease in energetic output from the reactor. It looks clear. Good job, guys,” Matty says. “Now get the hell out of there. Medevac is only seven minutes out and you’ve still got to make it to the exfil site. Coordinates are on your phone... unless Mac took it apart.”

“Nope, I've still got it,” Jack says as he thumbs his phone open. “And I’ve got the coordinates. We’re good, Matty. On our way.”

Mac grimaces as Jack puts his arm tight around his shoulders, and Mac says, “Hey, Jack?”

“Yeah?” Jack asks as they hurry to the door. 

“I’ll duck next time.”

Jack laughs. “Man, I don’t know why I put up with you sometimes.”

“Probably the same reason I put up with you,” Mac shoots back, grinning.

“Nah, man. I’m perfect. Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yeah, okay. That’s probably fair,” Mac mock concedes. And it’s not perfect, far from it. But accidents happen and there’s still no one else Mac would rather have his back.


End file.
